Researchers and scientists are ringing alarms after identifying a genetic mutation in four dairy cow herds. The change is one researchers dread because it is associated with increased mammal-to-mammal transmission and disease severity. It’s the mutation that was found in the first human case and is extremely pathogenic in ferrets. Finding the same mutation in cows is significant, according to Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an infectious disease expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the University of Tokyo.
The mutation is PB2 E627K and Kawoaka exposed it to ferrets last summer. Ferrets transmitted the virus via respiratory droplets and it killed 100 percent of infected animals.
Source; The Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2025. Link.
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